Serena Williams says she is not an animal

CNN interviewed Serena Williams when she was 9. Here’s what she said.

The best interview of 2019 — with Serena Williams

Nov. 15 2019, 12:02 PM

Serena Williams says that she is not an animal.

Serena Williams will play tennis for the first time in nearly two decades on Friday when she plays against former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in the Wimbledon final.

The 36-year-old Williams is one of only four athletes ever to have won a Wimbledon singles title, and she’s also won the U.S. Open, the French Open and the Australian Open.

She’s also one of only three players to win a Grand Slam singles title in their rookie year — a distinction that was already hers. Williams had a stellar 2016 but is feeling the effects of a back injury that limited her from last July until the end of the year. During that time, she didn’t win a Grand Slam singles title. Still, she was a major force in the U.S. Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, the U.S. Open (twice), the Australian Open and the Australian Open (twice).

In March, Williams told The Wall Street Journal that she hoped to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It was a bold statement for a tennis legend, but it is what Williams really wanted to do.

Despite her injuries, Williams still loves to compete at the highest level of competition. And now that she’s healthy, she’s eager to do the thing she’s best at in addition to being a mother and a wife.

She told NPR’s Terry Gross on Friday that she is not an animal.

“I think that’s a false idea for most people when you say that,” she said. “I know I am not an animal, and I think it’s a great word. I think it’s a great word to understand how you feel and what you mean about who you are. I don’t think anyone is an animal. And I guess that’s why they are animals. I think for most people that’s their initial perception. That’s why I think it’s a great word to understand who I am.”

Williams said she has had three children — Alexis Olympia, Henry Louis and Alexis Olympia Jr. — by her husband, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian. But those

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